Do not be fooled by deportation claims
Make no mistake, President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions are intent on deporting undocumented workers in the United States. President Trump promised he was going to deport the “illegals” and make our country great again. Do not be fooled by his claim that they are just arresting and deporting the drug lords and hard-core criminals and making our country safer.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The Trump administration’s Jan. 25 executive order on immigration and border security made clear his intent. The Trump administration plans to hire 10,000 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and up to 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents to step up deportation and immigration enforcement.
Furthermore, Sessions recently rescinded the Obama administration’s order to phase out contracts with private prison operators, insisting that the Obama memorandum “impaired the Bureau’s ability to meet the future needs of the federal correction system.” It sure looks like Sessions is ready to let contracts to private prisons to house detainees. I predict we will see the U.S. Department of Justice strong-arming local law enforcement agencies to cooperate in the removal of people from their homes and places of work all across this country. This is a fullfrontal assault on the very fabric of American life and values.
The scale of this is truly frightening. Most sources agree that there are about 12 million undocumented workers in the United States. To deport this many people would be the equivalent of completely depopulating the state of Illinois. Think about it. This would be devastating to our economy, our communities and our way of life. Tens of millions of people will be affected, and untold suffering and pain will result if this cruel and heartless objective deporting undocumented workers is achieved. We cannot allow this to happen.
The vast majority of the undocumented workers in the United States are working and paying taxes. They are raising families, building communities, taking care of relatives and worshiping in churches all across this country. People come to the United States illegally because they are desperate to improve their lot in life and are willing to work. They come because there are employment opportunities in agriculture, childcare, construction, hotel and restaurant service, meatpacking and any number of other segments of the economy.
None of the Republicans in Congress seem to appreciate the value of a populace that wants to be a part of America because of the opportunity it represents. It is absolutely false news to believe that immigrants have made this country less safe. The president and the Republican members of Congress appear to lack the capacity to empathize with the sacrifice and risks people make when they decide they must leave their homes and families to find work and earn the income to support themselves and their families.
When are the Republicans going to step out from behind the do-nothing shield of “the rule of law” rhetoric and actually address the issue and make immigration a valued part of our open and democratic society? I am afraid it is not going to happen soon. Republican politicians know that they can gain support based on fear by attacking people and groups on the margins, such as people in the criminal justice system or undocumented workers that are unable to push back politically. The law and order platform has always been the softer and easier path, the way of morally bankrupt and cowardly politicians. Unfortunately, this pretty well describes today’s Republican Party.
What Trump and Sessions are doing is fostering terror and fear in communities across the country with this heartless attack. This is not representative of the America I know and love.